Category: Sports Executives

For FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura, soccer transcends religious, gender and racial barriers. It was during her 21-year humanitarian career with the United Nations, where she supported peace and fostered gender equality efforts in disaster-prone countries, that she witnessed the sport’s power to unify communities and drive social change.

“The only moment when people would stop fighting and receiving orders from the warlords was when it was raining or when they were playing football,” she said. “You cannot simply ignore the power of a sport that sparks the passion of so many millions around the globe.”

Samoura — No. 1 on our list of the Most Powerful Women in International Sports — understands that soccer and FIFA cannot begin to solve all of the world’s problems. However, while implementing the decisions of the 36-member FIFA Council, fostering relations among the 211 member associations and overseeing FIFA’s finances, Samoura is determined that, under her watch, the world’s most widely loved sport will be inclusive for all people.

It may take time convincing wary fans that the multibillion-dollar governing body, the subject of a corruption scandal, is in fact committed to its landmark 2016 reforms. Yet Samoura points toward the oversight required under the FIFA Forward program, which provides member associations with financial investments from FIFA, and the increase in the number of women within FIFA’s administration, from 32% in 2016 to 48%, as signs of progress.

Samoura spoke by phone from the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, to discuss the role of women in soccer, FIFA’s governance reforms and the 2018 World Cup. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Alana Glass: You spent 21 years acting on behalf of the United Nations supporting peace and development in disaster-prone countries. Briefly describe how your humanitarian career prepared you for your role in soccer today.

Fatma Samoura: FIFA is like the UN of football; it brings people together. People coming together from different cultural backgrounds, different religions and origins. Now that I am also in FIFA, I am trying as much as possible to find a common ground between our 211 member associations and also to put football in the center stage.

You have said: “No society can develop and be economically sustainable if they alienate 50% of their population. My appointment as the first African female secretary general for the world governing body just means that the world of football is embracing diversity, and just considering that football can be loved by both men and women.” How do you see your standing changing mindsets about women in the sport and in top leadership positions?

My appointment in 2016 was a very strong signal that FIFA, a male-dominated organization, was opening itself to more diversity. For some good reason, it has not been an isolated case because we now have a much stronger women representation at all levels of FIFA administration. By creating a division that is fully dedicated to the development of women’s football and that is being chaired by one of the few females that participated in the program of reforms that led to the change of statutes in 2016. We also have a woman leading the flagship program of FIFA, which is the Forward program. Our political body is also diversifying and embracing diversity with the presence of one woman for each of the six confederations. And finally, at the level of the committees, before the reforms, there were 24 committees, and some of them didn’t include women. Today, we have 15-16% women represented on the committees.

Upon your appointment, you listed four priorities, one of which was to have the financial investigation concluded in a manner that would not be detrimental to the morale and level of engagement of the staff. Subsequently, there was restructuring to prevent that type of misconduct from happening in the future. What are your thoughts about that period of FIFA’s history? Where does the organization stand today in moving forward in a way where corruption is kept out of the game?

FIFA conducted a thorough investigation, and we put all of the facts forward and also want to hold accountable all of the wrongdoers. One of the key reforms within FIFA was to put in place a compliance division, which is now something that we can be proud of. We wanted to have more control and oversight of the revenues that are allocated each year to the 211 member associations. And as of 2018, we’ll be having a review covering all of the member associations receiving funding from FIFA. We have handed over all of the evidence on this investigation to Swiss and the U.S. legal authorities, and they continue to pursue those who enrich themselves and abuse their powers in football. We are continuing to cooperate with those authorities so that we can return our focus to the game.

Governance reforms were implemented to prompt greater recognition and promotion of women in soccer, as well as integrating human rights. What results are you seeing with the creation of a women’s soccer division and the increased level of female representation on the standing committees and the FIFA Council?

The fact of having women makes our strategies more inclusive. Before, we did not have any benchmarks for women’s football. Today, we have a very precise goal, which is to reach 60 million women registered as players by 2026. The fact that we have a woman leading a division with a full budget totally dedicated to football has helped us to interact and to engage with all of the football stakeholders and try to put more women competitions on the FIFA agenda. Since 2016, we’ve have organized three conferences on women’s leadership. And we have 65 women that came out of the program with better skills to run the administration. And more than 50% of them since that program have either been promoted or on the way to being promoted. These things would not have been possible if we did not have strong women’s leadership.

You’ve been outspoken about soccer being a unifying sport. What is your hope over the next two years as the 2018 and 2019 World Cups approach?

FIFA is convinced that through football, and particularly the FIFA World Cup and its international spotlight, we can achieve positive change. And the FIFA World Cup is also to promote dialogue and unite nations and fans around the world in the spirit of fair play and respect. When it comes to the Women’s World Cup, the growing popularity of the tournament is obviously a strong signal for the development of the women’s game. And what we are looking forward to is now to have a sustainable Women’s World Cup through changing the way we are contracting and we are selling our commercial rights through sponsors, and be able to associate the Women’s World Cup and the men’s World Cup under the new commercial strategy so that we can see how much funding is generated through the game and be able to reinvest it in women’s development in football.

There is a report that FIFA plans to launch a global women’s league that will begin play as early as 2019. What can you say about this development? Are the plans in line with the initiative of increasing the number of female players to 60 million by 2026?

Women’s football has been recognized as the biggest growth opportunity for FIFA and football — both on and off the pitch. But there is still a lack of opportunities. Because as you know, the men’s World Cup is funding all of our activities within FIFA, including the non-football-related events. People want to address the issues of this lack of opportunities and try to find a solution that will drive development for the 211 member associations. We have initiated an extensive consultation process. And hopefully, by the end of this year, at the October FIFA Council meeting, we will come up with a proposal on where we are going to be the next year in terms of women’s development, but also in terms of promoting the highest level of competition for women, including the possibility of having a world league one day.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 29: Co-host ESPN2’s His & Hers Jemele Hill speaks at the Why Are We Still Talking About This? Women & Sport in 2016 panel at Liberty Theater during 2016 Advertising Week New York on September 29, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Advertising Week New York)

Jemele Hill never planned on having a decade-long and counting career working at ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports. And her sights were never set on becoming a television anchor. Rather, her lifelong goal was to write long-form stories for Sports Illustrated because she always thought print first.

Gradually, she transitioned from an ESPN.com national columnist to regular studio commentator, appearing on First Take, Around the Horn and Outside the Lines. Ultimately, those opportunities led to a front-and-center role as the co-host of His & Hers, a daily sports discussion television show and podcast.

And somewhere along the way her knack for merging music, culture and sports, as well as her magnetic personality gelled with audiences. Earlier this year, Hill and her co-host, Michael Smith, were paid the ultimate compliment when they were given the nod to take over ESPN’s iconic SportsCenter brand.

After four months on air, SC6 with Michael & Jemele is attracting a younger racially diverse audience, and the time spent viewing SC6 is up double digits over the same period last year.

I spoke with Hill during a telephone interview where she discussed stepping into the SportsCenter spotlight, the role of women in sports media and how she navigated the transitioned from print journalism to television. Her answers below have been edited for length and clarity.

Glass: How have viewers and the ESPN family responded to SC6?

Hill: The ESPN family could not have been more supportive and more pleased with what we’ve been able to do. They were looking for the 6:00 pm Sports Center to be more personality branded. In terms of viewers, they have been very positive. There is a contingent of people out there who are still trying to figure out what we are and what we’re doing. Much like we had to do on His & Hers, we have to train the viewers to have a different expectation. When you give people the same thing consistently and with good quality, the next thing you know they can’t remember it any other way.

Glass: You are walking in the footsteps of notable and powerful journalists – Robin Roberts, the late Stuart Scott and John Saunders. What do their legacies mean to you? Are you applying any advice that you received from them to fulfill your current SportsCenter role?

Hill: I have deep admiration for Robin Roberts, Stuart Scott, and John Saunders. From Stuart, the great lesson for everybody is that you’ve got to bet on yourself. People aren’t going to always be positive about what we’re giving them, but we feel so strong about who we are that we’re not willing to change. Even if you don’t like it, even if it’s not successful. I don’t think either one of us could stomach the idea of being someone else on television other than ourselves. Then we would feel like we disappointed people like Stuart Scott, Robin Roberts and John Saunders, because they were very much themselves no matter where they were appearing and that’s what we appreciated about them.

Glass: You’ve been a champion for women in sports, not only female athletes, but also women in front of the camera. And you’ve been outspoken about the treatment of women on social media and how voices of women in sports are often marginalized. Have you seen any improvement in this area?

Hill: I don’t know that if it’s something that will ever be completely solved. Much like with any issue of this magnitude, it’s always going to be a situation where it’s progress and resistance. The unfortunate part is that in sports there’s always going to be this faction where people believe that women just don’t belong. That mentality is going to be out there and unfortunately, it’s something that women in the business have to put up with. And it feels terrible to say that because it empowers and emboldens in many cases the people who do carry that mentality. I hate that is something that we have to take as collateral damage of the job, but that’s unfortunately, how we have to take it. As we continue to get more women in sports media who are in the position of putting women and their voices at the forefront of sports, and so even if you do have the mentality that women don’t belong, guess what? We’re not going anywhere.

Glass: While transitioning from print media to television, what have you learned about the sports business?

Hill: The mentality in television is way different than it is in print, and so there were a lot of things I had to learn. Having an opinion was the least of what I had to learn because that came naturally. What I began to understand very quickly is that having an authentic opinion is not the only thing that makes you successful on television. TV is performance theater in many respects. You have to learn how to perform your opinion and that was probably something that I learned just by repetition. And I’ve said this before; TV can be in some respects very unrelenting on women. I’ve never felt this way at ESPN, but there is a fixation on how women look on television that can be at times uncomfortable. I had to get used to that part of it.

Imagine spending your entire career driving the future of sports programming. Imagine creating a paradigm shift and fundamentally altering the way society thinks about and views sports. Imagine being on the ground floor of a sports revolution.

There is a saying, “The revolution will not be televised.” Actually, in the world of sports, it is on-air and you can find it on ESPN.

ESPN, Inc., is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities

Remember when it offered only one 24/7 cable channel and that was enough to satisfy our appetite?

Never in our wildest dreams could anything possibly top that. Then before our eyes the company took off and added more domestic cable networks(ESPN2 and ESPNEWS), syndicated programming, radio (ESPN radio),websites (ESPN.com), and multi-screen platforms (ESPN3 and WatchESPN).

They made it look easy, but we all know there is no such thing as an overnight success.

Today, ESPN is valued at $40 billion and is the world’s most valuable media property as noted by my Forbes colleague, Kurt Badenhausen. And according to an analyst note from Wunderlich Securities, it is estimated that the ESPN will make more than $10 billion in revenue in 2013.

She started her career at ESPN in 1985 as its controller shortly after ABC’s acquisition (Currently, the company is 80 % owned by ABC, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation holds the remaining 20% interest). At that time, ESPN was only five years into its existence, and she was intrigued by the business proposition.

Driessen’s decision to join ESPN wasn’t easy. She had the choice between remaining with the public accounting firm where she was one of a few women on the partnership track or join a fledgling sports media company with an unknown future.

Ultimately, she chose ESPN and what drove her decision was the idea of being part of a company that would deliver something brand new to sports fans.

Fast-forward 28 years, Driessen’s risk paid off.

Today, as CFO and member of the ESPN Board of Directors, she oversees all of the company’s financial operations worldwide and serves as the financial advisor on strategic planning for all acquisitions, new business ventures and programming initiatives. Driessen leads a team of 200 employees who play a key role in negotiating ESPN’s major multimedia programming rights.

Also, as a result of her strong business acumen ESPN has programming rights to Major League Baseball, Monday Night Football, the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls, the ACC, The Pac 12 and the Big 12, US Open Tennis, and The Master’s and British Open golf.

Forbes caught with Driessen to talk about her tenure at ESPN, the future of the sports industry, and her advice for the next generation of sports executives.

Alana Glass: Describe your current role and responsibilities with ESPN?

Christine Driessen: I have a seat at the table for any activity and business decision; what kind of rights are we going to go after, what we are prepared to pay for those rights, and what’s the strategic imperative of those rights to us versus what they might be to a competitor.

I work with our international group on businesses we want to be in and think have the long-term growth potential. As well as the day-to-day operations of ensuring that we are the most cost-efficient as we go to market from programming, production, marketing, sales, and all the administrative sides of the business.

That all rolls into an annual plan and a five‑year plan and we spend a lot of time with the Walt Disney Corporation as to what those goals and aspirations may be for our business. I set those goals and priorities from a financial standpoint. I have my hand in everything and depending on the priority, and the issue at hand we will spend more time on one thing versus another.

AG: You play a significant part in bringing sports programming to our televisions, smart phones, and tablets. How do you prepare for negotiations and what is your role?

CD: We have a collaborative effort as we prepare for a rights negotiation. What is unique in the way we operate is we’ll take input from all the respective groups that have a point of view on a potential renewal or a new negotiation. We want to understand the perspective of the brand manager, the marketing team, the ratings group, and the research team where a sport may be in its life cycle. We talk to the sales team on the revenue side to ensure we understand the importance of that particular deal to our distribution agreements and delivering content to the distributors who pay us monthly affiliate fees.

Then my team puts together the financial information as to what we’re prepared to pay for any one deal and the impact of having it or not having it. There is a strategy that weighs, there’s financial information that weighs in, and ultimately we prepare a package that the executive team and the CEO can understand and with the pros and cons of each one.

AG: You mentioned strategy; can you provide an example of a possible strategy? What role does strategy play in terms of competition or a bringing a particular event or sport to your audience?

CD: Strategy can play a lot of different roles for instance in tennis, the USTA as a perfect example. We looked at that property, and we felt we could drive avidity for the USTA because of the depth of our media coverage, the depth of our media platforms, and our ability to cover that sport differently than anyone had done to date.

I think that strategy is where we can take something and because of where we are, and the position we have within the media industry and platforms we deliver content to we have the ability to grow that sport.

There are other things we’ve passed on where the competition conversation may come in a little bit more; where the value to us may not be as significant as the value in someone else’s hands. Ultimately, it comes down to what someone’s prepared to pay and in those cases our competitors are prepared to pay more than us. So it depends on the individual property as well as the individual opportunity for us.

AG: So it sounds like what your competitors can and cannot offer plays a role in some of your decision making. How does ESPN approach its competitors?

CD: First of all I’d probably say that we thrive with competition. It always forces us to be on our toes and challenge our teams. It sharpens everybody who’s involved. We don’t shy from competition. We never have. We’ve had competition since the day I came here and since 1979 when we launched. The competition may be heightened in the last 18 months, and you’re seeing all the players investing smartly trying to present sports in the best way.

No one can sit on their laurels, and I believe that we have always done extremely well when there is strong competition. I think Fox, NBC and CBS will all do well. We all benefit from live sports and its appeal to the consumer.

AG: What is ESPN’s influence on our sports culture?

CD: After 34 years in the business, we have established ourselves as the leading sports media company in the country. We know that fans come to us for live events, breaking news, analysis, opinions and all things sports.

ESPN has had an incredible impact on heightening fans awareness of new sports and underserved sports. We put action sports on the map with the X Games, and now it’s an Olympic sport. Our influence in women’s sports is growing with our investment in the WNBA, Womens’ College BB and the NCAA tournament, and the launch of espnW and most recently the Nine for IX films. In addition, our enhanced coverage of all college sports through ESPNU and our core networks has offered more and more college sports content to fans around the country. Through our digital presence, we’ve also expanded and enhanced the coverage of cricket in this country and around the world through ESPN3 and ESPNCricinfo.

We are extremely proud of The V Foundation for cancer research, which was founded 20 years ago by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano. We have raised more than $100 million for cancer research, a disease that impacts so many people around the world.

AG: In addition to ESPN’s business accomplishments, what are your greatest professional accomplishments?

CD: From a professional standpoint in my tenure, I’ve attempted to be a role model for women in this company as a beacon of light to demonstrate that you can have a great career and a demanding career. But also have a family and work-life balance and give back to the people you work with and give them the opportunity to develop and grow.

I’ve developed an executive women’s forum where the top 50 women in the company meet quarterly to raise issues that are unique to the females in this company, as well as develop next-generation of leadership and mentoring. That’s all part of the role that excites me at this point in my career. It’s time to give back, there are tangible things I can do because of my position that affords me the ability to have that influence.

AG: What other challenges do you encounter in your role as CFO?

CD: A challenge for any CFO but especially for me is balancing the desire and commitment to grow financially year after year with the decisions we make on investments, and the ability to recognize and act when things are not going as planned.

The balancing act of knowing when to pull the plug or move on to something else and refocus our direction is a challenge every day just because it’s a natural tendency to say “after a few more months, we’ll get it right.” In the world we all live in with the financial requirements put upon all of us we don’t have that luxury anymore.

AG: What is a specific example where you had to make a difficult decision and pull the plug on a project?

CD: The biggest one from a financial standpoint was the mobile phone where we decided to be in the business completely vertical. It wasn’t long after we started manufacturing phones that we realized that our expertise was in the development of the content and not in the manufacturing of and design of phones.

There we did move quickly to make the decision that we were going to focus on what we were good at which is content development and product development. We have the best mobile sites, the best mobile apps in the sports business and I that’s a testament to refocusing. Out of that experiment we developed great content.

The second is 3D. We announced this past summer that we were going to disband that operation, and that’s where we had an honest and critical assessment of what is the audience and what is the appetite of the sports fan. Is it worth the investment we’re making from a production and content standpoint? We concluded that, at this point, we couldn’t reconcile that continued investment given where the consumer was on 3D. Those are two live examples and the kind of challenges we’re looking at all the time.

AG: Let’s talk briefly about the future. What do you envision for your professional future and ESPN’s future?

CD: As I look at the next three to five years it’s an extremely exciting time to be in the media business.

How we will navigate ourselves through that whether it’s in the rights we obtain and the depth and breadth of those rights to deal with new transmission and technology delivered services is fascinating for anybody in this business. I hope to see more emerging business and new sports where we can have an even more positive influence on the people who love sports.

AG: Do you have any advice for young professionals who are striving to model your career in the sports industry?

CD: As I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve seen a lot of people succeed and not succeed, the thread that seems to occur in the successful people is the sooner you can learn to be an excellent communicator the more successful you will be, and you’ll attain goals quicker. So many people spend time trying to anticipate what someone wants to hear that they lack and don’t have the maturity to have excellent communication skills.

Also, the ability to have passion for what you do and to motivate people through that passion; your attitude towards your job is critically important as a motivating tool. Finally, I think to be a trusted influencer where you have integrity and honesty and the courage to speak up is lacking in today’s business world. I hope we can encourage people to demonstrate those traits because those are leaders who can have a positive influence on a business.

Welcome to I Want To Be An Owner

A sports website featuring "The Stuff" you want to talk about in professional sports from the perspective of the next generation of ownership.